


The Sound Of Your Voice

by Aquata



Category: Rush Hour (TV 2016)
Genre: First Kiss, Language Kink, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 00:23:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7244737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquata/pseuds/Aquata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carter has a thing for Lee speaking Chinese and really he ought to have noticed sooner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sound Of Your Voice

**Author's Note:**

> I know Lee speaks Cantonese but I've used the word Chinese through this fic because Carter probably doesn't know the difference and they always seem to say Chinese in the show. 
> 
> Anyway let me know what you think. Feedback is always appreciated!

The first time it happens, Lee is sat at his desk across from Carter's poring over a veritable mound of old files. He flips open a new file and mutters something to himself in Chinese as he does so. Carter looks up but Lee is silent again, eyes darting across old reports as he searches for anything that could help in their current case. He has the sudden irrational desire to hear Lee say more in his first language but he pushes the thought away and returns to the monotony of paperwork.

~~~ 

 The second time it happens, they have just managed to track down a man who, no matter what he says, had definitely been dealing drugs. They have no less than five witnesses willing to provide statements and a well timed search of his apartment had turned up a hidden, and rather large, stash under the floorboards. But he seems determined not to go down without a fight and pulls a knife on them which, Carter thinks, really brands him as one of the less intelligent criminals.

Lee is a blur of movement as he swiftly disarms their perp and the knife clatters to the ground harmlessly. Carter rushes in to handcuff the man before he can try anything else and then turns to glance at his partner, expecting to share a congratulatory look. But Lee is examining a cut on his own arm and swearing to himself in Chinese. Carter doesn't understand the words but the tone is clear and he finds it oddly endearing from his serious partner. He moves closer, just to check, but the cut looks shallow and Lee seems more annoyed at himself than anything else.

"You alright there, Lee?" he asks just to be sure.

"I'm fine," Lee says, switching to English and Carter feels the slightest twinge of disappointment, which makes no sense because he doesn't even understand Chinese so wanting Lee to continue speaking it is ridiculous.

Lee looks embarrassed and now Carter is sure this is just about the fact that he got hit by their comparatively inexperienced perp.

"Come on, Lee," he says consolingly. "Even superheroes get caught out sometimes." It doesn't seem to help since Lee just gives him a dirty look and Carter can't help but grin at him in response because his partner looks downright petulant.

 ~~~

The third time it happens, it has been a tedious day of tracking down dead end leads. They don't seem to have achieved anything and Carter is exhausted and fed up. All he wants to do is go home, curl up on the couch and watch TV. Maybe he can convince Lee to join him.

It doesn't look like he'll be able to leave anytime soon though because right now Carter is on the phone to an elderly woman who barely speaks English. He is just trying to ask her a few questions but is hitting a significant language barrier. The woman in question keeps interspersing her sentences with Chinese words and Carter is having trouble making any sense of what she is saying.

Lee is shooting him amused looks from across the desk but is pointedly refusing to offer help until asked and Carter gives him an accusing glare in response.

"Ma'am, I don't speak Chinese," he tries again, not wanting to give up, as the woman carries on talking. It seems that the longer this call goes on, the less English the woman is speaking. He absently taps a pen on the desk as he tries to focus on her words. The woman says something else and he catches maybe five words in English, none of which he can tie together to form any idea of what she is trying to say. Carter will happily admit that he is floundering here.

He sends Lee a pleading look, pointing at the phone and then at him. Lee makes a considering expression and Carter tries his best to look helpless. Lee rolls his eyes and stands to walk around the desk, finally taking pity on him with the long suffering expression that he tends to adopt around Carter. Carter would be offended if it weren't for that hint of fondness in his eyes and the trace of a smile hiding in the corner of his mouth. Lee takes the phone from Carter's hand, not even waiting for him to offer it over, and immediately starts speaking in Chinese.

Deprived of his phone, Carter looks up at his partner, watching his mouth form words that he doesn't understand but which send a tendril of warmth through his veins. Then Lee leans over his shoulder and reaches out to take the pen from Carter's hand, bending over the desk to scribble something down on a scrap of paper. He is suddenly very close and a surge of heat goes through Carter at the proximity. Lee's voice is quiet and reassuring as he carries on speaking close to Carter's ear.

Carter tilts his head slightly to carry on watching Lee talk, eyes catching on his lips and refusing to pull away. This close he can feel the warmth emanating from his skin and he wants nothing more than to reach out and touch. He has to stop himself when his hand twitches to do just that. His mind feels full of Lee's low voice, all other thoughts turning hazy and slipping away as he listens to his partner speak.

His eyes drop to Lee's throat, watching it move as he talks. He wants to close that small distance and press his mouth against the skin there. His head is whirling and for a moment he thinks he might actually do it but then Lee is pulling back, ending the call. The rest of the world seems to rush in again and Carter is assaulted by the chaotic noise of the rest of the office, although he's not sure when he tuned it out.

"She gave us an address," Lee says, holding out the scrap of paper, completely unaware of the effect he'd been having on Carter. He steps back and Carter stands, taking the paper numbly to look at the address. That helps snap him out of it and he pulls his jacket on in a rush, already following Lee out of the office. They have a case to solve and this could very well be the lead they'd been hoping for. With a sigh he lets his hopes of curling up in front of the TV fade because it certainly doesn't look like he'll get to do that tonight.

 ~~~

The fourth time it happens, they are trying to arrest a gang of Chinese criminals. They have tracked the gang to an abandoned warehouse that they seem to be using for their business of dealing illegal weapons.

"We should wait for backup," Carter says as he peers in at the group of armed men.

"We don't have time," Lee replies. "They're getting ready to move. If we don't get them now, we might not find them again." Carter sighs in response but he knows Lee is right. The gang are busy loading crates into a truck and they look almost ready to leave. There's no way backup would be here in time. He nods at Lee, drawing his gun and readying himself.

"Alright, let's do this," he says and leads the way into the warehouse. "LAPD! Put your hands in the air!" The gang seems taken by surprise and some of them do in fact raise their hands, eyeing the two detectives warily. One of them says something in Chinese though that has hands starting to edge towards weapons and Carter really doesn't like the look of this situation.

Then Lee shouts something at them in Chinese and Carter experiences a wildly inappropriate flash of desire. He watches Lee's lips as he says something else and Carter desperately wants to press their mouths together and taste those words. It's at that moment that Carter realizes he might have a problem. Turns out he has a thing for Lee speaking Chinese. Looking back, he's not sure how he hadn't realized, especially after the time on the phone, but decides he was too distracted by Lee's proximity at the time to be realizing anything.

He doesn't have much time to dwell on this revelation though because another problem presents itself in the form of gang members diving for their weapons. Clearly whatever Lee had been saying hadn't worked and Carter is forced to dive for cover in order to avoid the sudden hail of bullets. He crouches behind one of the remaining crates, glancing around to see Lee doing the same some distance across the room. He spares a moment to hope that there's nothing too volatile in these crates before leaning out to return fire.

The gang immediately shoot back at him and he manages to distract them long enough for Lee to dart out from his hiding place and circle around them. From his place behind the crate, Carter hears the solid thuds of close combat and the gunfire stops as the men are forced to fight at close range, guns easily being kicked out of hands by Lee's whirling kicks. Determined not to be left out, Carter runs around the crate and throws himself into the fray, getting in a few good hits himself. The men don't seem particularly well trained in hand to hand combat, preferring to use guns, so it doesn't take long before Carter and Lee manage to subdue them, leaving them groaning on the floor in varying states of consciousness and with a range of injuries.

It is at that moment that their backup finally decides to make an appearance, cars skidding to a halt on the tarmac outside and sirens blaring loudly in a manner that seems over the top given that they are already too late to help to help with capturing the suspects. Carter is, however, more than happy to hand the gang over to the sudden influx of police officers for transportation back to the precinct. He watches as Lee hauls one of the men to his feet, starting to lead him outside. The man spits something at him in angry Chinese and when Lee responds calmly in the same language, Carter feels that same warm desire for his partner once more. Damn. He is so screwed.

 ~~~

The fifth time it happens, they are at Carter's place watching TV. Carter is sat at one end of the couch and Lee is lying along the rest of it, legs stretched across Carter so that his feet rest on the arm of the couch. The lights are off, the room lit only by the glow of the TV screen as they relax in companionable silence, watching whatever film it is that Lee had found. Carter had let Lee choose and is starting to regret it because after flipping through more channels than Carter even knew he had, Lee had settled on some generic spy film that Carter doesn't really have the energy to try and follow.

He thinks the people on screen are looking for a stolen weapon and he's pretty sure one of them is betraying the others but beyond that he hasn't been paying enough attention to figure it out. He is far too distracted by how close Lee is and he's spent most of the film sneaking looks at his partner, enjoying how relaxed and peaceful he looks. When Lee had stretched his legs out across him at the start of the film, Carter had almost stopped breathing and he's been struggling with faint arousal ever since.

He reaches out to take more popcorn from the bowl, which is resting on Lee's stomach where they can both reach it. The whole situation is strangely intimate and Carter wonders if Lee even realizes. His partner always seems completely oblivious when he invades Carter's personal space, never giving any indication that he thinks it unusual. Not that Carter is complaining. He watches as Lee absently reaches into the bowl, eyes still fixed on the screen, and finds only a few kernels of popcorn left.

And then Lee makes everything so much worse for Carter because he turns his head to look at him, eyes dark in the dim light, and says something in Chinese. Carter's previous vague arousal kicks up a notch as hot desire rushes through his veins. He wants to press Lee into the couch and kiss him hard until he's a gasping wreck beneath him.

Lee seems to immediately realize that he hadn't spoken in English though because he quickly begins to correct himself.

"I mean-" he starts but Carter cuts him off.

"Say that again," he says before he can stop himself because he's clearly a glutton for punishment and as soon as he's said it he wonders what is wrong with him. Lee doesn't seem to notice anything amiss though because he happily complies, repeating his words in that same quiet voice. It really doesn't help Carter's state of mind and he feels fuzzy with want. He takes a deep breath to pull himself together, trying desperately to calm down because Lee has no idea how he feels about him and he can't let him find out like this.

"What does it mean?" he asks, forcing himself to think of unpleasant things and feeling his arousal start to ebb.

"Is there more popcorn?" Lee translates and Carter can't help but laugh because he's getting all hot and bothered about Lee asking for popcorn. Lee gives him that look he frequently uses that says he thinks Carter is being strange again and that he doesn't think he'll ever understand Americans but thankfully he doesn't ask what's funny.

"Sure," Carter says in response. "There's more popcorn in the cupboard."

 ~~~

The next time it happens, he gets caught and really it's surprising it didn't happen sooner because he's certain he hasn't always managed to be subtle about it. They are stood in Carter's kitchen and Lee is explaining something about the latest case, which involves the theft of a painting that had turned out to be a fake anyway.

"It is-" he says but pauses, searching for the right word. He says a word in Chinese, clearly trying to find the English equivalent, and Carter's breath hitches rather loudly in the quiet room. Lee looks over at him in confusion and embarrassment floods through Carter, his cheeks heating up. Lee gives him a considering look, and Carter finds himself the subject of that calculating expression that is usually reserved for suspects. He shifts uncomfortably under the scrutiny, feeling like his attraction to Lee is written across his face, suddenly certain that he's going to be found out.

Lee tilts his head slightly to the side, before saying something else in Chinese, tone almost questioning. Carter can't help the way his gaze drops to Lee's mouth and he bites his lip to stop himself from doing something stupid like kissing him.

When he meets Lee's eyes again, he sees sudden understanding there. Lee is wearing that expression he gets when he's managed to piece together the fragments of a case to find the solution.

"You like it when I speak Chinese," he says, a statement not a question, and all Carter can do is nod silently. He's been caught and there's no point denying it now. Lee is a detective after all and he's never been one to miss the little things. He'd know if Carter tried to lie right now and to be honest, Carter doesn't want to. His feelings had shown no sign of abating so it would have had to come out at some point. Why not now? It could have happened at a worse time after all, he tries to reassure himself.

Carter has a moment to wonder how his partner is going to react before Lee steps closer and surprises him by saying something else in Chinese, voice low and intense. Carter suddenly feels hot all over, heart starting to race in his chest. Lee steps closer still until they are pressed together, noses grazing and lips almost touching. Carter's hands rise to curl around Lee's upper arms, needing to touch him with a deep need that is making his mind hazy. Lee speaks again and Carter has no idea what Lee is saying but he doesn't care. Heat rushes through his veins at that quiet voice and he surges forwards to press their lips together.

Lee gasps as their mouths meet, hands flying to Carter's hips and gripping tightly. He pushes Carter back against the counter, tilting his head to deepen the kiss and pressing firmly against him. Their tongues slide together hotly and Carter groans into the kiss, arms sliding around Lee to pull him impossibly closer. He tugs at Lee's shirt to untuck it and slips a hand underneath to caress warm skin, fingertips tracing up the base of his spine.

Lee tears his mouth away with a gasp, lips still brushing Carters as they take a few panting breaths, unable to keep from trading small gentle kisses between breaths. Lee leans forward to press open mouthed kisses along Carter's jaw, sucking briefly at the part where it meets his throat and pulling a breathy cry from him. He kisses the spot just below Carter's ear and then murmurs a string of Chinese words, his breath warm against Carter's skin. Carter shivers bodily against him and Lee pulls back with a delighted laugh, smiling happily.

Carter's heart is pounding in his chest but he takes a moment to savor the fact that Lee is in his arms, enjoying the warmth of his body against him. Lee is smiling at him softly and Carter wants nothing more than to stay in this moment forever. He strokes a hand up Lee's back under his shirt, feeling soft skin and watching the way Lee's eyes slide to his lips.

He briefly thinks that it's a good thing he got caught because he's not sure he would have had the courage to do this if Lee hadn't figured it out. And then Lee pulls him into another kiss and he stops thinking altogether.


End file.
